Opening in downtown Puyallup - Bourbon Street Bar & Grill

When Bourbon Street Bar & Grill opens this fall in downtown Puyallup, owner Mike de Alwis pictures a dining experience that’s affordable and aimed at date night diners. As the New Orleans inspired name suggests, the menu will tread into Louisiana dining with a menu of steaks and seafood.

de Alwis has discovered that you can't turn a gas station into a restaurant without attracting a lot of attention. Downtown dwellers check in frequently to ask when the restaurant will be open and to inquire about the months-long construction project, which has included replacing the floor, plumbing and electrical in the building. As de Alwis joked by phone, “The only thing I didn’t do was knock down the four walls.”

The restaurant has a small dining room up front - diners of all ages will be welcomed there - with another area portioned into a 20-seat full-service bar. When our mercurial weather cooperates, he’ll offer patio and deck seating, too.

de Alwis described entrees in the $12-$16 range. He listed a menu of steaks and seafood specialties that will include Louisiana seafood boil, something he grew to appreciate while living in Louisiana while attending college.

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In a region limited on bayou cuisine, I can already predict the question from readers - will this be a Cajun restaurant? Not exactly. The menu won’t mirror something such as From the Bayou, a Cajun-centric eatery that operated in Parkland from 1998 to 2007 and in downtown Puyallup briefly from 2005 to 2006. However, Bourbon Street Bar & Grill will serve a smattering of Cajun dishes - such as etouffee and gumbo - along with the steak and seafood menu.

Expect an opening for Bourbon Street Bar & Grill sometime between late September or October.

Oh, and speaking of gas stations that have turned into restaurants, Sam's Taqueria, the Mexican restaurant that bloomed out of a service station, is transforming. A restaurant by the name of Oaxacan Mexican Cuisine has applied for a liquor permit at that location. I'm trying to reach the owners.